We vowed we’d be together again “back home,” but fate knew better – you never got there. And so, Dave, I hope that where ever you are these memories are as precious to you as they are to me.
The message was clear: It did not matter that I was qualified to serve in a combat arms unit that happen to be all white. It only mattered that I was Black.
The shop soon became the squadron’s “frat pad.” Most conversation revolved around girls and hookups, often described by my comrades as “bitches and hoes.”
Every day, I am reminded that, simply because of who I love, my country has said I’m not good enough to help save the lives of our women and men in uniform.
Charles Djou, a Chinese-American from Hawaii, serves as a captain in the Army Reserves and is a staunch opponent of the failed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
Feeling deeply conflicted between the requirements of DADT and the Navy’s Core Values, I wrote my Captain and told him I was a lesbian. I was being forced to lie on a daily basis by DADT.
There is no evidence that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly will harm unit cohesion, just as there was no evidence that allowing women and minorities to serve would do so.
Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., today touted a strongly worded open letter in which a dozen retired military leaders told Congress and the White House that the time has come to overturn the “discriminatory and misguided” policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
As I looked around the parade deck and saw my fellow Marines kissing their wives and girlfriends goodbye, I felt crushed. I could not kiss my boyfriend of two years goodbye.
